Multimedia broadcasts include the transmission of digital data streams having both audio and video content. In some multimedia broadcast systems, the digital data is transmitted using time-multiplexing. Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) is an example of such a system. DVB-H, which is based on the DVB-Terrestrial (DVB-T) standard, is a standard for the delivery of multimedia content (i.e., audio and video content of digital TV, or DTV) to small handheld terminals including cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, etc. Unlike DVB-T, the DVB-H standard uses time-slicing to reduce power consumption for handheld, battery-powered receivers. Time-slicing is a time-multiplexing technique where bursts of data are transmitted periodically allowing a receiver to power off when inactive.
In DVB-H systems, IP datagrams are transmitted as data bursts in time slots designated through time-slicing technology. Each individual TV service in a DVB-H signal is transmitted as the data bursts allowing the receiver to go into a sleep mode and waking when the service to which it is “tuned” is transmitted. Thus, the front end of a DVB-H compliant receiver can switch-on only for the time interval when the data burst of a selected service, such as a selected DTV channel, is being transmitted. Within this short period of time a high data rate is received and can be placed in a buffer of the receiver for storage or immediate playback.
Channel change time is one of the important parameters in a mobile DTV system. The channel change time in a DVB-H system is composed of the physical and link-layer (LL) change-time, and the upper layer change time. The physical & LL change-time is determined by the time-slice parameters, such as burst-size and cycle-time. Typically, these parameters can be optimized to provide a good trade-off between a short channel-change time and reduced power consumption. Nevertheless, an improved channel-change time while maintaining reduced power consumption would be beneficial in the art.